“Like a Dinner Party at Home with Close Friends..”

I’ve been waiting for the right time to go to Craigie on Mainfor awhile.. every time I think of it, it’s already booked for the weekend [boo] so thankfully I booked about 5 days ahead of time – and even then it was full til 9pm. Well, the ONLY opening was 9pm. Or 5pm [R got a reso for that time] — anyways. We decided to go to the 9pm since we wanted to go to Tea Time. After wanting everything and then some from the menu we decided that the best way to go this time was the Chef’s 10-Course tasting.. with additions of course [it’s how we roll]

I love everything about this place. The food, the atmosphere, the people… they cook sustainably and cook what they find that day that’s fresh – which is why their menu changes daily…. even their DRINKS are made from only the freshest in-season ingredient… so awesome :] I’m such a huge supporter of places like this…. [read more about them here] this place is easily one of my favorite places to go in Boston now :]

R: Into Craigie with a huge appetite (we spent a lot of energy shopping
after tea time). A restaurant with a menu changing daily and large
supporters of local farmers. We quickly scan the menu and see the
obvious items that pop out at us. Towards the bottom we see the 10
course chef’s choice tasting menu and decided we wanted to be
surprised. We had some additional items just make sure we covered all
our bases on our Craigie experience.

Montlouis Brut – Francois Chidaine

R: As always we like to start off with some bubbly to wake our taste buds
and get our appetites ready.

It’s how we do… a glass of champagne before a meal to open up our appetite… Unfortunately we had the most obnoxious girl and her parent sitting next to us blabbing away. She looked and sounded like the typical annoying girl in movies with the up-turned nose and high forehead… blabbing away with THE most ANNOYING voice about her personal life. R went to the bathroom for a few minutes and when he got back I already knew half her life story and about her plans for tonite. Salsa dancing [yes YOU, if you read this – you ruined my dinner with ur annoying-ness… JK.. the dinner was great, you were still annoying tho and need to go jump off a cliff with you and your issues and your dad who kept looking at me funny….]

2000 Riesling Spätlese Dalsheimer Hubacker – Weingut KellerDelicious wine. I fell in love with it as soon as I took my first sip. It was on the chef recommedations list as well as from our waitress, LINDSEY…. I remember her saying she was sad it was the boy version of Lindsey/Lindsay.. or wait… A instead of E? I actually remember her saying it was with an A but then I think E is more guy-ish… hahahaha ok confusing, she will be referred to, on here, as either or :] My b…

R: The wine was so light and crisp we needed two bottles of this
goodness. It went well nicely with everything and carried through our
entire meal.

Amuse Bouche Trio – Three Seafood Preparations

Squid noodles, nuoc cham
These were amazing. I could have easily eaten a bowl of these :] The fish sauce – def Thai influenced – and just delicious. Tender squid-y, but not fishy, noodles :] Yay.

R: I love noodles but not noodles, it’s always such a delights. The
squid like flavor and texture of the noodles we yum!

R: The spices worked really well with the gravlax, and the orange
vinaigrette adds a clean finish.

Crispy-Fried Maine Clam, squid ink anchoïade, preserved lemon
This was amazing. To be honest I’ve rarely had squid ink outside of squid ink pasta. But this SO impressed.

R: This fried clam was sooo tender and meaty I wish it was served in
mass quantities. The squid ink is an undescribable flavor and
complements so well with the clam. I’m such a fan of squid ink and was
very happy to see it with this dish.

Salad of Hiramasa Sashimi red onion-shiso salsa, avocado, harissa-rose vinaigrette
This was delicious. In fact, now I kinda want to go out for sushi.. O Ya anyone? YUMMMMM!….

R: I loved this dish! The taste of the fish wasn’t overpowered and
hidden in the salad.

R: Wow! Just WOW! Had to by my favorite dish here. The sable fish was
soo smoooth it felt sooo good in my mouth. Just touching with my fork
could have chunks of fish slide off the main piece. The miso and Sake
marinade nicely infused the fish.

Grilled Spanish Octopus grilled cipollini onion, fresh hearts of palm and lemon salad, garbanzo bean puree
** not in tasting but we added this in :] It was a must. Octopus is always a must… especially when it’s this perfectly good – even the non-tentacle parts were amazing [I’m a tentacle girl]

R: Totally the right texture. Not too chewy…just right. The garbanzo
bean puree was a great kicker for all this adding some texture.

R: This asparagus was just perfect. I wasn’t sure why our waitress
assumed we didn’t know to cut it horizontally (although i was having
some issues) The poached egg was soo creamy and the bits of ham added
a nice savoury-ness.

House-Made Farro Sacchetti Pasta pork heart sausage and sea urchin ragoût, Nocellara olive oil
This was probably my favorite dish of the night :] The pork hearts were not tough AT ALL. In fact you could’ve said it was a tender part of a pork and I would’ve believed…. This paired with the creamy uni… and the delicious pasta, delish! So glad to see out-of-the-ordinary pastas more often now :] YUM YUM! I need a huuuge platter bowl of this please.

R: I always feal that the right pasta needs to always be paired with
the right sauce. The thickness of these noodles were perfect for the
ragout. I love Sea urchin i wouldn’t expect to see it in this dish. I
love how it’s jelliness mingled with the firmer pork heart sausage.

Ragoût of Forest Mushrooms, Boudin Noir and Chicken Wing Confit farro verde, farm-fresh poached egg, ramp puree, herbs, flowers
I looooove mushrooms, and this was actually going to be the other extra dish but R didn’t seem to into it when I mentioned I wanted it as an extra dish – so thankfully this was in our tasting…

This last dish was special. Why? Well not only is it the best meat on earth, PORK, but the Chef himself came out to talk to us. Lindsay told us to have quesitons ready and all that but when he came.. I was dumbfounded. So chill and relax with a head of curly hair… Chef Tony Maws was just awesome. So friendly and such a freaking genius… I just sat there nodding like a dumbass excited to eat more of his delicious foods….

Vermont Organic Pork Three Ways: Spice-Crusted Rib, Suckling Confit, Grilled Belly caramelized endive, satsuma tangerines, pioppini mushrooms, parsnip puree, tawny port
OMG this was soooo goood…… I immediately dug into the confit and the belly… but my mind was on the rib the whole time. You ever just get a craving for ribs. Like good old delicious lip smacking ribs… well that’s how it’s always with me, so I’m always ready for a good rib. I soon gave up and just left the belly and confit to devour the rib. SOOOOO GOOD AND SPICED.

R: Our last savory dish, three great ways to have pork prepared just to
show how versatile it is. We had no qualms about using our hands for
the spiced rib. The Confit was soo crispy and fatty just felt good in
my mouth. The belly was tender and delicious.

Fiddlehead Ferns
** Not on the tasting…. but I looooooove fiddlehead ferns… :] They’re only here for about a month or so so hurry up and go get ’em :] OMG.. like I’ve said before, I’ve ordered dishes JUST for fiddleheads.. but but but but… OMGOMGOMG, a whooooole bowl of buttery happy perfectly cooked fiddleheads?!…. My prayers have been answered…

R: When our waitress mentioned fiddlehead ferns I loooked at Bunny and
just smiled. We knew we had to get them. They are just soo delicious.
GET YOUR FIDDLEHEAD FERNS PEOPLE! THEY ARE ALMOST OUT OF SEASON!!!

R: Bone marrow wasn’t on the menu, but our waitress was so excited
about us ordering the 10 course tasted that she didn’t give us her
specials schpiel. The table behind us got it so we had to add it on
mid tasting. Delicious bone marrow…ssss’alll I’m going to say.

Tea-Infused Panna Cottas Jasmine, toasted rice syrup & Rooibos, candied citrus zest
I loved the rooibos more than the jasmine.. the jasmine had great flavor but it was just overly sweet for me. You could taste the tanginess of the panna cotta…. the silky tenderness… jiggly like a woman’s breast ;D har har har….

R: I loved how the tea was infused into the panna-cotta. I ended up
liking the Jasmine one better because just the fragrance of Jasmine
was just soo delicious.

Cardamom and Vanilla Arborio Rice Pudding glazed pineapple, macadamias, piña colada sorbet
This was really good.. tons of cardmom flavor [which I love] and the texture of each grain of rice [which some people like and some people don’t like – if you’re eating rice pudding you better like it]

R: YAAAAAAAAAAY Pudding! Love the use of cardamom. The pina colada
sorbet was so refreshing!

Sheep’s Milk Yogurt Cheesecake Matzo meal-pine crust, blueberry-anise hyssop jam
I was nervous about this being sheep’s milk.. thankfully it wasn’t strong and it was soooooo goood… I especially loved the crust and the tapioca nut – I think it was macadamia.. but R remembers differently.. so *shrug* powder :]

R: Fearful the Sheep’s milk would kill this, it was actually a very
light cheesecake. With the Anise jam it was spectacular!

Ancho-Chile and Cardamom-Spiced Valrhona Hot Chocolate
This was amazingly good. It could’ve done with more heat too :] LOOOOVE how they give this to you – sip sip sip yummmm :] Alll Hot Cocoas need to have some chili powder in it!!!

Chocolate Covered Almonds
This was a really great way to end the night :] Some complimentary chocolates…

Need to come back here ASAP… especially for their piggie tails at the bar :] — how annoying that you can’t order bar food to the table…

R: Definitely want to come back to Craigie on Main. Apparently there
is some food at the bar you can’t get at the restaurant, so we
definitely have to come back for the bar experience!

Thankfully I am bringing my Mommy here for Brunch on Mother’s Day so she and Daddy can experience the awesomeness of Chef Tony :] Usually we opt for something closer to home but I’m trying to convince her to come out for some guaranteed yumminess.